


Turkey Night Extended

by DPPatricks



Category: Starsky & Hutch
Genre: Gen, Some Humor, the beginning of the relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-25
Updated: 2019-07-25
Packaged: 2020-07-19 17:10:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19977592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DPPatricks/pseuds/DPPatricks
Summary: Academy Days Thanksgiving, Part II





	Turkey Night Extended

**Author's Note:**

> This is the sequel to the original Twenty Minute Challenge

"I gotta tell ya, Hutchinson, you did good."

"You think so?"

"I know so! You kept ‘em laughing and off balance all night. And that's no easy chore when it comes to my Left Coast family. They've pretty much seen and heard it all. But you surprised ‘em."

"How so?"

"Oh, come on, give yourself a little credit."

"No, I'm serious, Starsky. I felt like an actor who'd been thrown on stage without a script. I was uncomfortable all night."

"I know that, pal, but nobody else did."

"You knew?"

"‘Course I did. We haven't known each other that long, but I think I've got your number. You always want people to believe you're in control. You say the right things, you wear the right clothes. You're gorgeous and you know it, but you don't flaunt it. You project the right image. It was all there tonight but you were shaking in your shoes at the same time."

"God! Am I that transparent?"

"Only to me, Hutchinson. I think I know you... And I like what I know."

"You do? Really?"

"What's with the surprise? Yeah! I like you. Colby and you. The only two out of the whole class I give a rat's ass about. And now, with John bailing out, you're all I've got left."

"I don't know what to say, Starsky."

"Then don't say anything. We're going to be partners eventually, I can feel it. So work with me, okay?"

"Yeah.... Okay. That sounds good. With Colby leaving, you're all I've got, too."

"We're agreed then?"

"You bet! And thanks."

"Don't thank me yet. Let's see how you feel in, oh, about twenty years."

"I'll write it on my calendar."

"Don't bother. You won't forget."

"No, partner, I won't."

"Good. And I've been meaning to ask, did you have any fun at all tonight? I know my Uncle Al can be a handful."

"I had a great time, actually. I think. Once I got going, it came more easily. The making stuff up, putting people on, having them enjoy my jokes."

"Yeah, I laughed out loud when you expanded on my canasta idea. Making it into an intramural championship was inspired."

"It just came to me."

"And then you added the Trojans into the mix, telling Uncle Al that USC had never won the title. I'm willing to bet he's checking his Almanacs right now, looking for the Collegiate Canasta Championships."

"You're the one that got me thinking about it. When you mentioned the Golden Gophers and Wolverines. I know all the names of college mascots."

"Why do you know a thing like that?"

"I read a list once. Eidetic memory."

"What the hell's that?"

"If I think about it long enough, I can recall almost everything I read or hear. It's stuffed somewhere in my overcrowded brain."

"Geez, that's gotta be a load to carry."

"Not really, it's just something I do."

"Stop with the ‘humble' okay? You're a natural with people, Hutchinson. And you're going to be great with the banter. Just keep a tight rein on it, please? It can really ease tension in tough situations. I learned that in 'Nam. Sometimes banter and bad jokes were all that kept us sane. But it can get nasty, if you let it."

"I'll try to keep that in mind. And I love your laugh, by the way."

"What? Where did that come from?"

"You said you laughed out loud. I heard you."

"How's that possible? Everybody in the room was laughing."

"I know. But yours was... unique. And I realized I'd never heard you laugh before. Not really. Oh, I've heard you pretend, when you were trying to fob somebody off, or make people think you liked their jokes. You've got all kinds of different laughs."

"What are you talking about, Hutchinson? People laugh. That's all."

"Hardly. Everybody has faces they put on. They have different voices they use. They laugh differently, too."

"Really?"

"Trust me. You laughed tonight as if you didn't have a care in the world. And it was a beautiful sound. I look forward to hearing it again sometime."

"You're weird, Hutchinson, you know that?"

"So I've been told. One or two million times."

"You hungry?"

"Are you kidding, Starsky? I ate half your Aunt Rosie's turkey all by myself."

"Naw, you only feel like you did."

"I'm really not hungry, but where are we going? We're not headed back to the academy."

"Wondered when you'd ask. There's one more person I want you to meet. You're important to me, so is he. I thought it was time you two got to know each other."

"In this part of town, Starsky? This isn't someplace we should be until we're in uniform and carrying guns!"

"Relax, my friend, you're in good hands."

"I use Farmers."

"That was quick, Hutch. You're learning."

"I like that, too."

"What?"

"The way you call me ‘Hutch' sometimes. I like it."

"Yeah?"

"Nobody ever has. It's always been Hutchinson, Kenneth, or Ken. Even Kenny, which I detest by the way. Nobody's ever shortened my last name before."

"Well, I really like what you called me, too."

"Starsk?"

"Yeah. Nobody's ever shortened my last name, either."

"I'll remember that."

"So will I."

"Where are we going, by the way? You never said."

"I'm taking you to meet The Bear."

"Are you sure I'm ready for somebody with a name like that, Starsk?"

"I'm sure, Hutch. Trust me."


End file.
